It's empty in the valley of your heart

 Paisley dress: J. Crew; Shawl (as scarf): Burlington;

Belt: Banana Republic; Sandals: Miss Trish of Capri;

Ring: from mom, heirloom.

Listening to: "The Cave," Mumford and Sons.

I don't know how many times I've worn some iteration of this outfit, but this is definitely my favorite dress in my closet. Look how beautifully it matches the foliage of the park ...

I've been in a reflective mood lately. I spent some time hanging out with old friends who came into town for my mentor's memorial service last week. It was so good to hang out with people (co-workers at my college newspaper) that I haven't seen in years, and catch up on the many personal and professional ups and downs that happen after graduation. I almost didn't go — what if we're not the same? — but ultimately was so glad I did, realizing that I missed my ink-stained journalism pals.

Classes are wrapping up this week, and I can barely contain my excitement at being free from so many deadlines. I'll be free to roam around this area this summer, hopefully finding more awesome photo spots along the way.

Give me the splendid, silent sun

Dress: Sag Harbor, thrifted; Scarf: Burlington Coat Factory; 

Moccasins: Minnetonka; Belt: Loft; Hourglass necklace: gift from Sunira.

Wearing this dress felt like an act of defiance toward the weather and a last stab at keeping summer around. Since I'm not doing too much shopping these days, I've been trying to transition my summer pieces into colder  times. With its Hawaiian print, I think this may be the loudest summer item I own, but I think it can find new life with some dark tights and boots.

I spent a tiny part of the weekend at the park, watching the leaves change and documenting it with my camera. And I spent the majority of the weekend working on projects and papers for my research projects class. Fall break is just around the corner, and you can believe this girl is so excited to sleep in.

My hourglass necklace is a gift from my friend Sunira, and I adore it. Though I am powerless over the changing season or time moving forward, it does amuse me to play with the hourglass during class, and watch the sands pile neatly onto each other -- until I tip it over again ...

The duck whisperer

 Dress (as skirt): J. Crew; Sweater: LOFT; Boots, tights: Target;

Poncho (as scarf): Burlington Coat Factory; Leaf brooch: thrifted; 

Belt: from Boy Scout camp (when I worked there);

Pocket watch necklace: Waltham, gift.

Shop similar: Dress, scarf, brooch, necklace.

Outfit 22 in the 30 for 30 Remix Challenge. I could tell you about this outfit, and how every piece comes from a different stage in my life, and that I am such a sentimentalist about them. How I like how natural the colors are in each piece and how they align well with the scenery behind me. Blah, blah, nostalgia. Blah, blah, tree hippie.

What I'm actually excited about is my fashionable fowl of a friend up there. Please note the duck -- it's already made an appearance on the blog before.  It must have recognized me again, because it showed up in half my photos, and followed me from the beach to the dock. When I got to the dock and realized the duck was close by and getting (wanting to be?) in the shots, I actually said out loud, "Hold still. Let me take your picture." And it did stop, and that's the portrait you see above.

You guys, I might have a gift here -- the uncanny ability to talk to ducks. Like Harry Potter and snakes, or Jennifer Love Hewitt and the underworld. Our national nightmare of not understanding our bird friends may soon be over. We may finally know why they prefer regular white bread to ciabatta, how they manage to look calm with their legs kicking furiously underwater, and why Donald Duck wears a shirt and no pants.


It'll be hard, but I'll try not to quit my day job.

Fourthcomings

Shirt: from Grand Canyon, 

borrowed from Dad;

Leather skirt: Old Navy;

Prom shawl (as scarf): Burlington Coat Factory;

Cougar bracelet: Finder's Keepers;

Shoes: Aerosoles.

It's Day Four of the 30 for 30 Challenge, and I'm introducing a favorite I haven't ever worn on the blog, but is very important to me: my Grand Canyon t-shirt. It used to belong to my dad and I saved it when he died. He had this wooden trunk that held mementos of his life -- Boy Scout patches and trophies, military certificates, travel postcards and nature photography. The trunk was always treated reverentially in our house when he was alive, so us kids very rarely go through it. But I knew I wanted just something tangible to remember him by, and this is what I hastily grabbed during my last look through the box. It reminds me of our family trip many years ago to the Grand Canyon. The design of the shirt is a map of the topographical  lines of the canyon, but the years have taken their wear on the design, so I usually just wear it for the bright color.

The shawl is also special to me: I wore it to my senior prom with Jeremiah when we first started dating. Now that we're married, I'm glad I hung onto to it all these years.

Two important mementos related to two important men in my life. Can't think of a better way to be covered during the day.

Cotton candy

 

Dress: Connected Apparel;

Shawl: Burlington Coat Factory;

Carpet saddle bag: thrifted;

Flats: Target.

How I've worn the dress before: here.

I wish I had a remote control for my life that would speed things up during the week at my retail job and then sloooow things down on my days off. Having to hear about problems like purse interior linings all the time can make anyone feel a little less sane by the end of a week. Although, I'd imagine I'd get into trouble with a time device like that -- I'd make a misstep and have it devolve into volcanoes erupting on the other side of the world or something like that. Still, it's really nice to imagine skipping to the best parts. I do that with books sometimes --- I usually start with the last page and then start at the beginning. I think Harry in "When Harry Met Sally" described it as having a dark side. I like to think of it as being deductive -- knowing how it all ends first and then trying to figure out how it got to be that way was always the best part for me.

Anyways, this has nothing really to do with this dress, which I wore to dinner with Jeremiah after work today. The frothiness of it is just wonderful enough to combat the daily black wear and almost fun enough to make me forget that I want a time remote control in my life. Almost.

Have a frothy pink-cotton-candy kind of day,

Not so incognito

Dress: J.Crew;

Poncho/shawl (as scarf): Burlington Coat Factory;

Belt: Fossil;

Shoes: Tayla platforms, Target.

How I've worn the dress before: here.

So for my day off Monday, I decided to give the printed J.Crew dress a try during the day. When I bought the dress online, I was surprised at how big and bright the print was in real life (the photo depicted the dress having a smaller and more muted print). Since I bought it on final sale, there was no way I could return it, so I've since gotten it altered and have tried different ways of styling it (see here). I decided to try something different this time by wearing my prom shawl as a scarf over the dress. Now that it's 90+ degrees at every point in the day, it's pretty impossible to wear too many layers, so this scarf was lightweight enough to not have me feeling fatigued. I know the scarf's styling looks a little sloppy in the photos, but it was straightened up for most of the day, where you could see most of its fringey-ness.

I had a great day  -- I watched some "Golden Girls" (a very emotional episode in which Sophia and Max decide not to rebuild the pizza place after the fire) and "Gilmore Girls" (I sing the theme song to Jeremiah all the time: "All you have to do is call my name and I'll be there on the next train...") 

I also went thrifting, which was a success and I'll be showing those new finds soon. A couple of the employees at the thrift store acknowledged me, not in a "Hi, how are you?" way but remembered me as a repeat customer. I think it was because of today's outfit -- I usually wear a really basic tee and jeans whenever I go thrifting, so I felt really dolled up. One of them said it was good that I was back, and another said, as I was contemplating in the blouses section, that yellow was my color (I don't think so, but I was holding a yellow top). It's taken a year, but my multiple visits are being noticed by the staff. I wasn't sure if I should have been flattered that they like me being a customer, or freaked out a little. I'm usually one of those shoppers who likes to keep to themselves during store visits and so any unordinary human contact can be a little peculiar and I tend to over-analyze it all. 

What kind of shopper are you? Do you tend to keep to yourself, or do you like traveling in groups?

I'm really excited about having Tuesday off --- having days off during the week is fun sometimes. You feel like you're cheating the system and playing hooky but you're not, so it's like a little midweek gift.